George Russell said the Mercedes has been “getting slower” compared to its competitors.
Russell finished the race in P6, ahead of Carlos Sainz’s replacement at Ferrari, Oliver Bearman, and scoring 8 points in the championship.
The Briton’s sixth-place finish represents only one position gained, as he started from P7. For teammate Lewis Hamilton it was worse, though, as the 7-time World Champion started P8 and finished ninth.
Speaking after the race, Russell said the team is “really trying to understand this car [W15] because we have shown true performance at points over the last two weekends.”
“FP1, straight out of the box, we were top of the timesheets and always in the top three. FP2, P2. Then, both weekends, the pace just falling away from us.
“That hasn’t been our competitors getting faster; that’s been us getting slower. So, we need to understand why that is. But it’s fine margins now.
“It’s so close with ourselves, McLaren, Aston Martin. Charles [Leclerc] is just a smidge ahead. We just need to tap into it a bit more.”
When asked if the performance issues were related to the bouncing the Silver Arrows are experience, Russell said, “I think there’s more to it.”
“It’s so complex these days. These cars are so complicated.
“When you couple that with the tires, the tires are very difficult as well. Right now, I don’t have the answers.”